Justice by Mistletoe
by risainternational
Summary: Seeing as how Batman always spends Christmas on the Watchtower, Wonder Woman purposely keeps him company. Her ulterior motive would be wanting answers. And "no" is not an option.


Ariza L. Zubia

Started: 11/30/14

Updated: 12/21/14

Justice by Mistletoe

It is Christmas Eve, and once again we find that Batman is spending one of several Christmases in the command center of the watchtower. But this time, it is less about evading painful childhood memories and more about avoiding his cave and Bat-family. And maybe even a certain someone he refuses to acknowledge or name. . .

Wonder Woman appears behind him. "Shouldn't you be on Earth, celebrating?"

There are not very many people who can sneak up on Batman; Diana happened to be one of them with the talent; this being her second time in succession.

"I'm fine where I am. How about you? I assume you understand the concept of Christmas by now."

"Oh, yes. I tried to explain the idea to my mother but she didn't take to it at all. I guess, I don't really have someone to share it with either. So, for the past few years of living in Man's World I would just walk through the cities' streets—aimlessly. It seems so wondrous and magical. All the colorful lights and decorations; people are so much more kind and giving. Some shops even hand out free cocoa and cookies. And the singing—"

"Is that where you got that?" He made a gesture towards the steaming cup in her left hand.

"No, actually I made this one in the kitchen myself." She set down the cup. "I decided to stay in this Christmas."

"Really, why?"

"To change things up a bit—I have nowhere else to be, remember. And to keep you company: I've seen you on monitor duty before, Bruce. You do nothing but stare at the screen."

"It's called monitoring." He was getting annoyed.

"Call it what you like." She waved it off to get to her point. "Flash and Green Lantern seem to make it more enjoyable. Even J'onn isn't _that _serious. You're so—sad, Bruce."

He stiffened, "Life is sad, Princess." He felt a little offended, like she was ripping open a scar. Thus, instead of getting into another meaningless argument with Diana, he started to exit the room to retreat into his substitute Bat cave—throwing himself into intense heavy research and brooding, no doubt. If something needed attention, an alarm would go off on his belt.

What was her aim? To hurt him? Cruel jokes didn't really seem her forte. But it felt like that to Bruce.

Diana caught up to him after recovering from what he had just said. "You can't keep doing this, Bruce." Although his back was still turned, he could feel the hurt in her voice.

"Trust me, Diana. It's better this way." He attempted to continue walking away again but not before Diana violently and unexpectedly, grabbed his cape and whipped him around to face her.

"Nothing's better this way." It was her turn to glare now.

A few agonizing seconds of silence passed as they just stood feet apart from each other. She searched his expressionless mask imploringly; he was grateful she couldn't directly examine him, look into his eyes, his soul. He was sure he would break if he gave her that chance. But even with the mask, he could not look at _her_, in her eyes—those deep blues, full of power, and love, and painful emotion and pleading. Then he spotted the tears threatening to break free. He realized that everything she ever did towards him was out of love, and that she never gave up on him throughout the years. Whereas, all he ever did was mislead and push her away.

Diana grew tired of the game of silence: she began to move past him, glancing upwards as she did so. He followed her gaze, relieved it wasn't on him anymore. It was mistletoe stuck to the ceiling. They figured it was probably Flash who placed it there for laughs. Yet in this dire moment it was all the push they needed.

"That's mistletoe," Bruce pointed out. Diana stopped right underneath it.

"Really?" she indulged him.

Acting fast, he lessened their gap in one stride. He ripped off the cowl, and dipped Diana, gripping her shoulders, just as madly as she had spun his cape around. He kissed her hard on the lips before she had a chance to protest.

When he pulled away slightly, she responded, "While there are still some things about Man's World that baffle me, I don't need to understand this custom to approve of it."

And right when he was about to reply, she simply wrapped both arms around his neck, and returned his kiss. All the feelings she ever felt for him went into this kiss. He could feel it, being transferred from her body to his. It was an overwhelming sensation; and since it was futile to resist the will of _this _Amazon princess, he gave in.

It had been so long since they had ever been like this, it felt like the first time again. When they finally broke apart, "Bruce, thank you," she touched his face. "I didn't know when I was going to get another chance to do that again—looks like the Gods favored an Amazon's Christmas wish after all." She pecked him on the cheek. "Sorry," she sounded nervous now. "You can go back to your work now. I won't bother you anymore." She restarted to walk away.

Still apologizing after every kiss, he observed. "Diana." Bruce was feeling a swirl of mixed emotions. But she deserved so much more than he was giving; he realized that now—that a part of her would never give up—something he always admired her for. She would never back down from a fight.

"I've told you, you don't need to apologize for something like that. I never once complained. Have I?" He captured her attention long enough to make her stop from walking away probably for a very long time. But he just couldn't stand it anymore. He needed to come clean, be honest, and let her in once and for all. And he knew she needed that closure too.

She waited for him to continue. "You're right—everything about me—you are right. I've been living in the shadows of the past for too long. I push people away when they get too close for comfort. And I am afraid that if I step out of that comfort zone, something bad will happen, especially to those I care about. But you are right—I can't keep doing this for the rest of my life. I can't keep running. I need to let go of this fear. But I just don't want to lose you again."

"Oh, Bruce. Don't you see? There's no one else for me that I'd rather be with. That's why I've waited this long." She lifted a hand to his cheek. "But I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Then I won't make you wait anymore." With that, they kissed each other, with true passion and sincerity than ever before.

"Merry Christmas, Bruce."

"Merry Christmas, Diana."


End file.
